Bio

Hello,
My name is Jonathan Parra. I am a director, writer, producer and editor. I’ve been a lifelong film fan and student. My commitment to movies dates all the way back to my childhood days in Ecuador, where I would sneak into movie theaters to watch American and Hong Kong films with Spanish subtitles. I truly love every aspect of the art of filmmaking, which explains why I score so high on movie trivia night at my neighborhood bar, and why I spend my other nights at home alone streaming movies.

I’ve written and directed the short comedy films Dogs Make Great Pets and Back Issues. The latter of which premiered as an official entry of the Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival. I’ve also directed film festival trailers for the Film Arts Festival of Independent Cinema, the San Francisco Black Film Festival, and the Cine Acción Festival, ¡Cine Latino!. Always the passionate fan of good music, I directed the Barbacoa music video for San Francisco’s indie rock band White Pine. I’ve directed, produced and edited game trailers for Electronic Arts, GREE, Kabam, and Spicy Horse Games. Some of the campaigns he’s worked on have been for games such as Crysis 1-3, Alice: Madness Returns, Shadows of the Damned, Gatling Gears, Brutal Legend, DeathSpank, Rango and Shank. My Latino background and fluency in Spanish, have also come in handy in crafting Spanish language commercials for companies such as Common Sense Media and Telemundo.

I’ve edited numerous projects including documentaries, narratives, commercials, PSAs, corporate videos, and trailers. My editing credits include the documentary Fruit of Labor, which was part of the Truly California series on PBS; Tom Shepard’s and Joel Engardio’s Independent Lens documentary, Knocking; and Gustavo Vasquez’ festival favorite, ¡Que Viva La Lucha!, a documentary about Mexican wrestlers and their fans. Just to mix things up, I’ve edited the news for San Francisco’s Univision 14.

In addition, I teach editing courses at Pyramind in San Francisco. I also like to spin records for anyone who’s willing to listen.